Monthly Archives: February 2015

From Terry Kostel:

Learning Leadership

God commanded us to go and teach all nations, to preach the Gospel to every creature. He tells us that those who hear us, hear him. At the end of each Mass we are told to go forth and announce the Good News. We are all asked to lead.

The School of Leaders helps us to understand that we are all leaders in Christianity. As a leader, we are called to be a witness of Christ at all times and in all environments. Our goal – to become the Good News as we seek to build Christianity in the world. Therefore, living in grace, loving God and our neighbor, can be considered the root, the origin of all Christian being and doing. We well know that the kingdom of God is inside each one of us, and that when this reality becomes conscious, it becomes contagious.

On our Cursillo weekend, we were provided a direction to fulfill our potential of being an authentic Christian. But we need constant guidance, so where do we go to get that guidance? What other source will provide the foundation? The Bible. It is the first place we should go to in order to learn how to become leaders today, preparing for the world tomorrow. There are many books in the world on the subject of leadership, but only one starts with the right foundation. It contains many stories of those whose leadership ability and the principles by which they lived are revealed for us to model. To name a few: Abraham, who through his daily actions was a man of character, was someone who could be trusted and always looked out for the best interest of those around him; Joseph, despite being sold into slavery by his brothers and then later imprisoned, rose to become second-in-command over all Egypt; and Joshua, who took the place of Moses, led Israel into the Promised Land.

God did not waste one word in the Bible. We can discover the traits that made these men successful leaders and how we can become the same. Many of the commandments and statutes are principles that help us become better leaders. Our purpose is to become leaders in the world tomorrow, rebuilding this world the right way.

The fruits of the Holy Spirit are listed in Galatians 5:22, “But the spirit produces love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.”

Leadership that evidences love will yield trust and respect. If you have joy, people will follow just because they want to take part in that joy. Peace will relax people and set them at ease. Patience will encourage change. Kindness will encourage growth. Generosity will encourage loyalty. Faith will increase confidence. By showing gentleness, those under you will know that you do not see yourself as better than they. If you display temperance they will know that you are in control.

A final thought: “A Godly Leader finds strength by realizing his weakness, finds authority by being under authority, finds direction by laying down his own plans, finds vision by seeing the needs of others, finds credibility by being an example, finds loyalty by expressing compassion, finds honor by being faithful, finds greatness by being a servant.” –Roy Lessin